We did something important today.
In observation of October being "Connected Educator" month, I scheduled a simple after school professional development opportunity to give teachers on our campus the opportunity to learn more about connecting with each other and with other educators via social media -- especially Twitter.
Most of the teachers who showed up -- a group that included our principal -- did not have a Twitter account and had little previous experience with Twitter. An hour and a half later, we had learned something really new and we had carried on online conversations with a variety of educators from as far away as Singapore, Australia, and Beirut, Lebanon. We also chatted with people across town in Arlington, Texas, and with people in Wisconsin and Massachusetts. We talked mainly about homework and the role that it plays in education today. We talked about how our perception of homework is changing. Most importantly, we talked.
At times, though the room was full of participants, it was eerily quiet. Not unlike the sound we sometimes hear in our classrooms when 20 or so students are fully engaged and totally absorbed in an assignment. Then someone laughed or gasped as they read their laptop screens and the crosstalk would begin again out loud.
Why was this important? Because we -- the teachers -- had become the learners in a really profound way. No, it wasn't the first professional development any of has attended. But we had the sense we were learning something really new and useful.
Some will not use what they learned today -- I know that quite well from experience. But others will take their two hours of exchange time and multiply it like loaves and fishes, leveraging it into something powerful for their own use. They will connect with each other and with other educators and administrators the learning will continue.
As our campus technology liaison, I have led and sponsored many training events. None felt more meaningful than this when I climbed behind the wheel to drive home. If you're interested, you can check out the archive of the discussion at the link I will provide below. You don't have to know anything about Twitter to read it. It's an interesting tale of new growth. But do this, please: if you get it, and decide to begin your own journey of connectedness, let me know at @hmccoy0615 on Twitter. Here's the link:
sfy.co/tk4X
Harrison McCoy
AVID Coordinator
In observation of October being "Connected Educator" month, I scheduled a simple after school professional development opportunity to give teachers on our campus the opportunity to learn more about connecting with each other and with other educators via social media -- especially Twitter.
Most of the teachers who showed up -- a group that included our principal -- did not have a Twitter account and had little previous experience with Twitter. An hour and a half later, we had learned something really new and we had carried on online conversations with a variety of educators from as far away as Singapore, Australia, and Beirut, Lebanon. We also chatted with people across town in Arlington, Texas, and with people in Wisconsin and Massachusetts. We talked mainly about homework and the role that it plays in education today. We talked about how our perception of homework is changing. Most importantly, we talked.
At times, though the room was full of participants, it was eerily quiet. Not unlike the sound we sometimes hear in our classrooms when 20 or so students are fully engaged and totally absorbed in an assignment. Then someone laughed or gasped as they read their laptop screens and the crosstalk would begin again out loud.
Why was this important? Because we -- the teachers -- had become the learners in a really profound way. No, it wasn't the first professional development any of has attended. But we had the sense we were learning something really new and useful.
Some will not use what they learned today -- I know that quite well from experience. But others will take their two hours of exchange time and multiply it like loaves and fishes, leveraging it into something powerful for their own use. They will connect with each other and with other educators and administrators the learning will continue.
As our campus technology liaison, I have led and sponsored many training events. None felt more meaningful than this when I climbed behind the wheel to drive home. If you're interested, you can check out the archive of the discussion at the link I will provide below. You don't have to know anything about Twitter to read it. It's an interesting tale of new growth. But do this, please: if you get it, and decide to begin your own journey of connectedness, let me know at @hmccoy0615 on Twitter. Here's the link:
sfy.co/tk4X
Harrison McCoy
AVID Coordinator